Republican Leaders in Congress Urge Secret Service Chief to Resign After Trump Shooting

Secret Service while securing the President of the US. (Wikimedia Commons/DoD/US Army/Pvt. Genesis Gomez)

JAKARTA - Republican leaders in the U.S. Congress on Wednesday called for Secret Service Chief Kimberly A. Cheatle to resign after a shooting that left presidential candidate Donald Trump wounded at a campaign rally on Saturday, while the House launched a bipartisan investigation into the security failures.

House Speaker Mike Johnson said his chamber would launch a bipartisan task force with subpoena authority after receiving separate virtual briefings from security officials to the Senate and House of Representatives ahead of a public hearing expected next week.

"The task force will be comprised of Republicans and Democrats to quickly investigate this matter so that the American people can get the answers they deserve," Johnson told Fox News, as reported by Reuters on July 18.

Meanwhile, Senate Republican Mitch McConnell said on social media, "New leadership at the Secret Service will be an important step in that direction."

FBI Director Christopher Wray, Deputy Director Paul Abbate and Deputy Secret Service Director Ronald Rowe briefed members of the House and Senate. Cheatle participated in the Senate briefing, according to NBC News.

Secret Service Chief Kimberly A. Cheatle. (Source: Secret Service)

After the briefing, Senate Republican Conference Chairman John Barrasso joined those calling for Cheatle to resign.

"To me, that's a cover-up for Secret Service misconduct," he said.

"The director of the Secret Service needs to resign," Barrasso said.

"The shooter was identified as a suspect, a suspicious character, a full hour before the shooting happened. He had a rangefinder, a backpack, and they lost track of him and never really followed up on him. This was an hour before," he said.

Also on Wednesday, House Oversight Chairman James Comer, issued a subpoena against Cheatle, compelling him to testify at a Monday open hearing focused on the security breach.

"The reason we're going to do it (the House task force) that way is because it's a more precise strike. It's quicker, there's less procedural hurdles, and there's subpoena authority for the task force as well," Johnson said.

Saturday's shooting wounded Trump in the ear, killed one campaign attendee and wounded two others. The 20-year-old gunman, identified as Thomas Matthew Crooks, who was killed by security guards, fired from the roof of a building about 150 yards (140 meters) from the stage where Trump was speaking.

Secret Service personnel securing Donald Trump. (Wikimedia Commons/U.S. Air National Guard/Master Sgt. Kellen Kroening/128th Air Refueling Wing)

"Whoever made the decision not to close the building. You know, that's probably the biggest flaw in this," House Homeland Security Committee Republican Chairman Mark Green said on Fox News.

Separately, Secret Service Director Kimberly Cheatle said in an interview Tuesday with ABC News that she would not resign, but said the responsibility was hers.

"The responsibility is mine. I am the director of the Secret Service," she said.

She said the Secret Service is responsible for securing the inner perimeter of the campaign, while local law enforcement is responsible for securing the area outside the campaign, which includes the building Crooks accessed.

Secret Service officials did not immediately respond to a request for comment Wednesday.

Cheatle himself will testify next week in a separate hearing before the House Oversight and Homeland Security committees.

Johnson told Fox News that he called Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas "a few hours" after Saturday's shooting, who "didn't have a satisfactory answer at that time." He said he also spoke with FBI Director Wray and Director of National Intelligence Avril Haines.

"The answer is not there yet. I think they're collecting data. We will do that too. We have to take responsibility for this. It's inexcusable," Johnson said.

"Clearly, there were security lapses. You don't have to be a special operations expert to understand that, and we will get to the bottom of it," he said.